Computing and communication networks typically include network devices, such as routers, firewalls, switches, or gateways, which transfer or switch data, such as packets, from one or more sources to one or more destinations. Network devices may operate on the packets as the packets traverse the network, such as by forwarding or filtering the packet-based network traffic.
Network devices may include several types of cards (e.g., input/output cards, connectivity/configuration fault management (CFM) cards, etc.) that provide different functionalities for the network devices. Each card may include several types of components (e.g., processors, memories, interfaces, etc.) that provide functionalities for the card. In one example, each card may include a primary component (e.g., a main application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a main field-programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.) that controls the operation of the card.
An oscilloscope and a logic analyzer may be typically used to analyze and debug network device components (e.g., a FPGA). The oscilloscope/logic analyzer arrangement requires connecting signals provided by a network device component to pins provided externally to the network device so that a waveform (e.g., associated with analysis) may be captured by the oscilloscope and the logic analyzer (e.g., externally to the network device). In-circuit debug is a new technology that uses FPGA on-chip logic and memory to analyze a particular component of a network device (e.g., via direct connection with the network device), and to capture the waveform inside the network device. For example, a user can analyze the particular component (e.g., via direct connection with the network device) and capture the waveform via a FPGA joint test action group (JTAG) port. With in-circuit debug, a user can analyze the particular component with a single JTAG cable and software tools, and an oscilloscope and logic analyzer may be omitted.
Network device components (e.g., FPGAs) have become faster, denser, and more complex over the years, and, thus, field issues associated with such network device components have grown dramatically. Some field issues are difficult to reproduce in a lab environment. If an analysis of a network device component in a real field environment is required, a field technician must travel to a customer's site, shutdown the customer's system, remove a card (or board) containing the component, and connect a JTAG cable between the component and an external personal computer. The field technician may then perform an analysis of the component via the personal computer. Such an arrangement is time consuming, inconvenient to the customer, and expensive.